1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for beverage containment and drink dispensing. More particularly, the present invention is directed to drink dispensing devices having containment bodies which collapse completely flat in a horizontal plane like an envelope and having a spout configuration which prevents spilling or leaking.
2. Description of the Currently Available Products
Many different containers have been devised for the convenient, inexpensive, or disposable dispensing of beverages and other packaged products. As a result, the devices currently available represent a variety of containers such cups, cans, bottles, boxes, and other containers made of a variety of materials such as tin, aluminum, rigid plastic, styrofoam, glass, paper, cardboard, flexible materials, and other materials. For purposes of this application, discussion of currently available dispensing containers is directed to containers constructed substantially of flexible material, exclusive of traditional tin, aluminum, rigid plastic, styrofoam, glass, cardboard, and the like. Similarly, the following discussion is directed to containers other than traditional cups, cans, bottles, boxes, and the like.
Many currently available dispensing containers are constructed of flexible material, such as a thermoplastic like polyethylene, and which containers are to some degree collapsible when empty. Such containers have, when full, substantially rigid, yet flexible, wall members. In order for some currently available containers to be of practical use, the base of the containers must be adapted or modified in such a manner to provide a flat surface in order to support or maintain the container in an upright position in its normal standing position. Some devices require folding the wall or base members in order to provide the necessary flat resting surface. Other devices use a series of cuts, shapes, and welds of wall or base members to provide a flat or effectively flat resting surface to maintain the container in an upright position in its normal use. The currently available devices must rest in an upright position in order to avoid leaking or spilling of the contained beverages once the product has been accessed for dispensing.
Other currently available containers require the dispenser to be supported by some independent structure or support system in order for practical use of the device to be effective. For example, some embodiments must be held in one's hand at all times. Others, if the side walls are sufficiently rigid, must lean against an object to prevent spilling or leakage. Still others must actually hang or be otherwise supported on or about the upper portion in order to be maintained in an upright manner.
The vast majority of such flexible, somewhat collapsible containers require the contained product to be inserted, injected, or filled before the construction of the containers is completed. For example, currently available devices leave a portion of the container unsealed during the manufacturing process until such time as the intended product has been placed in the container. As a result, the complete manufacturing of the container must be incorporated into the packaging of the product, or vice-versa. This is not only costly but also limits the use of the container to the designated product only.
Similarly, nearly all of the currently available flexible containers are designed to be disposable after one use. This is a result of not only the economics of manufacture, but is also of necessity whereas the structural integrity of the devices' containment members is compromised in one manner or another to gain access to the contained product, i.e., either by puncturing a wall member, tearing or cutting away a portion of the container, or by otherwise causing a slit or tear to at least one member of the containment system.
The currently available containers suffer operational inefficiency by the absolute requisite that the container remain in a very limited range of upright positions. This is a result of the structural requirement of resting on a secure, flat surface. Most devices have just one position, the upright position, in which the device contains the product without spills or leaks. In other words, the containment integrity of the currently available devices depends upon the secure or constant nature of the surface or structure which is supporting the dispensing device. If the devices tip from their upright position even partially, they may spill or leak.
Furthermore, the currently available dispensing devices require a relatively significant amount of space in which to store the device when empty. In other words, the ratio of the volume of potential holding capacity of the container to the volume of space needed to store the empty container is quite low. As a result, the currently available devices cannot efficiently be stored in large quantities for ready or immediate use.